Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. Acquires 2,409 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 78.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,482 shares of the CRM provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,409 shares during the period. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co.'s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,903,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Veritas Asset Management LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 3rd quarter valued at about $733,805,000. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 52.7% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,433,785 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,482,347,000 after purchasing an additional 1,530,572 shares during the period. Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 46.7% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,829,773 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,280,408,000 after purchasing an additional 1,219,254 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its position in Salesforce by 171.2% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,634,834 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $447,470,000 after purchasing an additional 1,032,068 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 23,664.2% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,002,848 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $274,490,000 after buying an additional 998,628 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $368.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Loop Capital boosted their price target on Salesforce from $340.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $390.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $330.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $377.63.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total transaction of $109,965,671.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,162,457 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,217,696,838.46. The trade was a 2.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total transaction of $144,874.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,057 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,344,899.96. This represents a 5.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,111,420 shares of company stock valued at $384,366,700 over the last ninety days. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of CRM traded up $2.08 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $328.62. 5,253,924 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,249,068. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The company has a market cap of $314.49 billion, a PE ratio of 54.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.31. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $212.00 and a 52-week high of $369.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $336.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $303.93.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The business had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.35 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.62 EPS. Salesforce's revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

Salesforce Company Profile

Salesforce, Inc provides Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technology that brings companies and customers together worldwide. The company's service includes sales to store data, monitor leads and progress, forecast opportunities, gain insights through analytics and artificial intelligence, and deliver quotes, contracts, and invoices; and service that enables companies to deliver trusted and highly personalized customer support at scale.